Bill's Daily Driver Build

[ROK360]

Nice work.

+1 on that, this is a great photo story.

[grand_wag_85]

Looks great!

[ProTouring442]

Worked on laying out the dash. The center stack will hold a Stereo/cd player with navigation, a scanner, the A/C controls, and a CB. I need to extend the wires between the chassis and the face of the CB, so I can remotely mount the chassis as it is too long to simply mount.



In front of the driver there will be three gauges, a speedometer and tachometer that will operate of the '08 ecm, and a quad gauge that will use sending units mounted on the engine. The dash pad and vertical sides of the center stack will be covered in black vinyl. The dash fascia will be covered in brushed aluminum.



This is where and how I will mount the airbox. I need an elbow to come out of the box and pull air from in front of the core support. Once I get everything mounted, I'll cover the hole in the inner fender with fiberglass.



I made a heat blanket to protect the bottom of the evaporator case from the heat off the exhaust manifold. The manifold already has a heat shield as well, so the evaporator case should stay reasonably cool.



Until next time!

[ProTouring442]

New lists!

Modify Harness: I went with a new harness from PSI ( http://www.PSIConversion.com ). It was around the same price as many charge to modify a harness and it gets you all new connectors. Also, the harness has a good 2' of length added to allow you to install the ECM and TCM inside the vehicle.

Cruise Control: Because I am running a Gen IV engine, the GM cruise control cannot be easily adapted (it's in the BCM, and not the ECM as with earlier LS series engines). I went with a system from Spanky's Rod Shop (http://www.spankysrodshop.net/ ) which interrupts the circuit between the gas pedal and ECM to implement its functions. Apparently it can be programmed to work with any cruise control buttons, so I had them program it to work with the factory Jeep/GM column switch.

Fan Controller: Painless #30141, F5 Single 70 Amp Fan PWM Controller. This will soft-start the fan and bring it to 50% power at whatever "on" temperature you set. As the vehicle's temperature rises, the unit increases fan speed. It also bypasses the temperature setting when you turn the A/C on, and allows a settable speed at which it no longer turns on the fan. I will use this feature to run the low speed on my Lincoln Mark VIII fan. The ECM will turn on the high speed feature of the fan if the engine gets to the higher temperature the ECM is set at. This gives me a redundant system to ensure the engine runs nice and cool.

Keyless Entry: I went with a system by AutoLoc ( http://www.autoloc.com ). I chose them because they have a flip-key style remote that works with their system. I'll be modifying a key and maybe the ignition cylinder to use this.

Remote Start: I know, such a sissy sort of thing, right? Well, my wife has MS, and heat, as she says, is the enemy. Being able to remotely start the vehicle and allow the interior to cool down will be great for her and a luxury for me. I went with an Omega/Excalibur unit.

Battery Isolator: I plan on running at least one deep cycle battery besides the normal "starting" battery. This is to go along with all the other "stuff" I have added, along with the inverter I plan on installing. I am using a "smart isolator" by Intellitec.

Battery Charger: I will be mounting a Battery Tender on board.

Stereo/Navigation: Kenwood DNX6140. A double DIN stereo/cd player with iPod control and Garmin GPS.

CB: Galaxy DX949 w/SSB. The unit is too deep to mount how I wanted, so I am extending the wires to the faceplate so I can remote mount the body and install the face in my dash.

Scanner: Uniden BCT15X TrunkTracker III... yeah, I don't know why, I just had to have one.


As for progress...

Over the weekend I tried out the simulated "brushed aluminum" vinyl I purchased. Great stuff! (3M DiNoc). I do need to use the adhesive promoter/primer 3M sells, and so have ordered that. I'll post pics of the finished dash insert once I get the primer and redo it.

I also began running the Engine Management harness. So far, I have only run into one difficulty, the cam sensor connector is different from my engine's. I'll contact PSI as soon as I have checked all the other connectors, but I imagine I will just need to swap out the connector.

Until next time!

[ProTouring442]

Well then! Started making the permanent dash inserts (the ones pictured before are templates). These were cut from 1/4" ABS plastic sheet, and covered with a titanium DiNoc vinyl applique.

Driver's side:



Speedhut gauges, Harley Davidson turn, high beam, and "pursuit" lights. The two "pursuit" lights are for the Check Engine light, and the Brake Warning Light.

Passenger's side:



The A/C outlets are Ford F150.

While digging out the Razor Grill I have for sale (spoken for), I found this little guy...



It's up the the buyer as to whether or not they want the critter.

More has been accomplished, but I don't yet have pictures. I started making the inserts for the center of the dash, but miss-measured and ruined the plastic sheet I had for them. A new piece is on its way.

And the cat sleeps...

[Strode]

Nice work Bill, looks great.

[ProTouring442]

Tiny bit of progress... well, not so tiny as it comes to the tie spent, but quite tiny when compared to the general scope of things.

The CB would not fit in the dash, so, to quote Tim Allen, I rewired it.





In keeping with the posting of critters encountered along the way, here is the lovely lady I found nesting atop the garage door.

[j10jim]

Cool work! and I love your 'friends'! Keep the photos coming. Also any more details on the 3m stuff? THanks, Jim

[ProTouring442]

Cool work! and I love your 'friends'! Keep the photos coming. Also any more details on the 3m stuff? THanks, Jim

3M DiNoc... what sort of details are you looking for?

[ProTouring442]

After many weeks of migraines, road trips, migraines, house work, migraines, cleaning out the storage are of the garage, migraines, rearranging the guest bedroom, migraines, and working on my father's '59 Impala project, I am finally back to work. Besides all the other stuff going on, I have also been plagued with a bunch of migraines. Did I mention that?

Anyway, without further ado, here goes the progress...

As you may recall, I had to modify the hood latch mechanism to clear the new radiator placement. I purchased a hood latch lever and cable system from Lokar and installed it. Works like a champ!



I was able to modify the original hood latch lever assembly to use as the bracket for the new lever assembly.



With the new heat-A/C system, there is plenty room up behind the passenger side of the dash. A few brackets, and some careful measuring, and we have a place to mount the ECM, TCM, Engine Management Fuse Panel, Auxiliary Fuse Panel, CB Radio, Remote Start Module, Keyless Entry Module, and... I think that's it... maybe...

I also mounted the passenger side defroster duct (the old style to go with the old style dash pad). I had to modify it a bit, but it works quite well now. I still need to make manifolds to connect the ducts to the Heater Box.







Under the hood, I mounted the Fan Control Module.



And the Auxiliary Battery Control Module





On the roof I got the CB Antenna and Scanner Antenna mounted.





In between migraines and other assorted distractions, I finished the radio panel. The upper hole is for the head unit w/GPS. The bottom is for the CB radio face. The toggles are for all manner of stuff. I have different labels coming as I don't like the way these look.



As for some of the non-migraine distractions (did I mention I've been getting a lot of migraines lately?), I went to North Carolina and got some welding done on my dad's '59 Impala project.

Rocker panel repair.





Moved the fuel tank braces to allow the tank from a '96 Caprice to be used.



Took my wife to the butterfly house in Durham.





And rearranged the guest bedroom... I'll repaint the pink sooner or later, but for now, at least it's more acceptable.

[twisted frame]

This is quite an awesome build! There's a bunch of stuff in your photos I have no experience with so I'm tuned in!

[Strode]

Excellent work all around. You're really jamming thru this and making great progress

[DarkMonohue]

Uh-oh. Are you on Ferrarichat as well, or does that license plate have some other meaning?

[ProTouring442]

Uh-oh. Are you on Ferrarichat as well, or does that license plate have some other meaning?

Yup... that was my "Secret Santa" present from a few years ago. I was hoping for a Ferrari, but...

[ProTouring442]

And we have updates!

Behold! The Infamous 42 gallon Suburban fuel tank. So how do you put 50lbs of manure in a 25lb bag? Well, fist you remove anything that sticks up from the top of the tank. On the Suburban tank there are two vapor vents (for the charcoal canister) and a vent for the fill. The vapor vents were filled with freeze plugs (turned down to 1.22") and installed with JB Marine Weld(fuel resistant). The hole for the fill vent (it was already torn off when I bought the tank-got a deal because it was damaged) was filled with by tapping the hole to 3/8 NPT and screwing in a plug coated with the same JB weld. I then made a new vent next to the original fill by drilling a 1/4 hole and enlarging it with a tapered tap (to make an area for the tap to bite), tapping it 3/8 NPT, and installing a plug.



As others have done, I cut the rear most crossmember off to make room. Sine the tank will block access to the nuts that hold the bumper and trailer hitch, I welded them.



I had to trim the floor brace so I could get the tank as high as possible.



While under the truck, I installed my new air shocks. I drilled a couple holed in the crossmember located just behind the rear axle to hang the tank mounting bolts.



I braced the rear of the frame with an L brace (to hang the tank) and a larger brace attached to the bumper brackets. Here is the L bracket.



A hole was cut in the floor to make easy access for the fuel sender/fuel pump unit.



The tank, once installed doesn't hang all that low... here it is from a normal viewing height, sans trailer hitch.



Here it is as seen from down low. again, sans trailer hitch.



The exhaust passes between the rear shock and fuel tank with little room to spare. Currently there is about 1/4" between the exhaust and each item.



Here is another view. Once done, I'll take it where I can get it up on a lift so I can dimple the pipe and the tank to give about 1/2" between the pipe and the shock, and a good 1" between it and the tank.



Since we were working on the nether regions, the headpipe was next. Using the Silverado manifolds, I welded up a headpipe with crossover. The welds aren't the prettiest, mostly because I was welding stainless with a MIG. Still, I got good penetration, and that's all that matters.







The pipe is in two pieces with a sliding clamp to ease installation. As it runs very close to the transmission pan and servo cover, I wrapped it. This will also help keep heat out of the interior.



You can see how close it runs to the pan. There is good clearance for driveshaft movement too.



I had to cut the original floor heat shield for clearance, so the wrap will really help.



Here it runs down past the transmission. There is a shield that also protects the transmission from the heat.



Passenger side clearance. Good distance between the exhaust and the starter.



And that's all for now... sorry, no critter pictures today. We do have a couple of cool spiders just outside our bedroom window, but I haven't taken any good shots of them.

Until next time...